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ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application led Oct. 19, X897.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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C. V. FITE. ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application med oet. 1 9, 1897.) v (NAo Mudpl.)

2 Sheets-Sheet TH: Nonms Pnzns co.. Immo-Limo., WASHINGTON. v. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OEPHAS V. FITE, OF` MOUNT HOLLY, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALFTO ROBERT H. STOWE, OF SAME PLACE.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,834, dated December13, 1898.

Application iiled October 19, 1897. Serial No. 655,697. (No model.)

T0 all whom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, CErHAs V. FITE, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Mount Holly, in the county of Gaston and State of NorthCarolina, have invented a new and useful Rotary Engine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary engines, and has for its object toprovide an improved safety or equalizing valve device whereby backpressure due to a vacuum in rear of the piston-wing or moving abutment,due to the premature cutting oif of the motive agent or due to the factthat by reason of a reduction of load the piston is moved at a morerapid rate than it is actuated by the motive agent, is prevented,wherebyan approximately uniform speed of rotation is attained.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of a rotary engine constructedin accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the same,taken through one of the cylinders perpendicular to the plane of theaxis of the piston. Fig. 3 is avertical section taken parallel with andin the plane of the axes of the rolling fixed abutment and the cut-offvalve.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings. y

Supported by a base 1 is a cylinder 2 of annular construction, in whichis mounted a piston 3, preferably of centrally-open construction,with arim ,which forms the inner coucentric wall of the cylinder and carriesthe piston-wing or moving abutment 5. In practice the cylinder andpiston, as just described, are duplicated, and the piston-wings orabutments are arranged at diametrically opposite points (see dottedlines 5u in Fig. 2) for the purpose, as will be readily understood, ofmaintaining a constant actuating pressure upon the rotary member of themachine, both pistons being carried by a common shaft 6.

Revolubly mounted in an extension 7 of the casing is a lined abutment 8,having a spindle 9, carrying a gear 10, which meshes with acorresponding gear 11, fixed to the pistonshaft. This fixed abutment,which is of the rolling type and rotates with the piston, is providedwith a peripheral recess 12 to allow the passage of the piston-wing 5,and as the piston and rolling abutment are geared together forsimultaneous rotation it is obvious that said parts will operatesynchronously, the periphery of the abutment being normally in contactwith the rim 4 of the piston to prevent back pressure of motive pressureadmitted through an inlet-port 13 in the casing. Obviously the featureof the iixed abutment 3 is also' duplicated, with the recess 12a (seedotted lines, Fig. 2) of the cooperating abutment arranged in a positiondiametrically opposite to the recess 12. In order that the piston may bebalanced to avoid jar during rotation and insure a uniform motion, Iprovide it at a point 14 opposite to the piston-wing 5 with acounterbalancing block or enlargement, and in the same way the abutment8 is cut away, as shown at 15, for a similar purpose. An exhaust-port 16communicates with the interior of the cylinder at a point on theopposite side of the extension 7 from the inlet-port 13, andcommunicating with said eX- haust is a suitable conductor 17.

In connection with the above-described construction and also located inan extension 18 of the casing, forming a valve-chamber, is a rotarycut-off valve 19, designed for controlling the inlet-port 13 andprovided with a segmental closing face 2O of an extent approximatelyequal to one hundred and thirty degrees, the function of this closingcut-off face being to exclude motive agent from the cylinder during aportion of the rotation of the piston to allow the expansion of saidmotive agent to be utilized-as, for instance, while the piston-wing ismoving from d to l) (see Fig. 2) or through an arc of sixty or seventydegrees. At ZJ the space in rear of the piston-Wing communicates withthe eX- haust-port, and from this point until the piston-wing reachesthe position indicated in full lines in Fig. 2 said wing is passingthrough the recess 12 of the [ined abutment. Motive agent therefore isnot admitted to the cylinder until the piston-wing approaches said IOOposition indicated in full lines in Fig. 2. In order to secure asynchronous operation of the piston and cut-off valve, a second gear 21on the spindle cf the fixed abutment is arranged to mesh with a gear 22on the spindle of the valve 19, a second or duplicate cut-off valvebeing used in connection with the duplicate cylinder hereinbeforementioned. Motive agent is admitted to the cut-off-valve casing througha supply-pipe or equivalent conductor 23 and may be controlled by anysuitable means, such as the throttle-valve mechanism 21.

From the above description it will be uuderstood that in operation themotive agent,

as steam, is admitted through the inlet-portV 13 in rear of thepiston-wing when the latter is in the position indicated in full linesin Fig. 2, and this admission of motive agent continues approximatelyuntil the pistonwing reaches the point d, when by means of the cut-offsegment 2O of the valve 19 further admission is checked, and thepiston-wing is driven by the expansion of the motive agent until itreaches the point b, where the exhaust takes place. Obviously the pistonin the twin cylinder receives the direct application of the motive agentduring the time that the piston-wing 5 is moving from the point c to theposition indicated in full lines in Fig. 2, where it again receivespressure, as above described. I have found in practice, however, thatparticularly when there is a sudden reduction of load the cut-off of them0- tive agent is liable to cause a vacuum in rear of the piston-wing,due to the speed of the piston being in excess of that which it wouldreceive by a continued pressure of the motive agent. Obviously thecreation of such a vacuum has the effect of producing an opposite orbackward impulse, and in order to counteract this eifect I have found itdesirable to place in the piston-wing a safety or cqualizing valve 25,normally held seated by the pressure of the motive agent against therear surface of the piston-wing, from the fact that said valve opensrearwardly or in the opposite direction to the application of directpressure to the piston-Wing and also held when normally seated by anactuating-spring 2G employed for this purpose. This valve, however, isprovided at the front end of its stem, and hence exposed at the frontside of the piston-wing, with a pressure-plate 27, and therefore anunequal pressure applied to the opposite face of the pis* ton-wing or anexcessive pressure applied to the front surface thereof by reason of aninduced vacuum in rear of the wing has the effect of repressing thesafety or cqualizing valve, and thus permitting an immediateequalization of pressure to avoid the abovementioned restraining orbackward impulse. By the use, therefore, of a safety or equalizing valveconstructed substantially as indicated I am enabled to check theintroduction of the motive agent by means of a cut-off such as describedwithout the risk of causing back pressure upon the piston due to thecreation of a vacuum in rear of the piston-wing. The immediate responseof the safety or equalizing valve to any induced vacuum will accomplishan equalization which permits the piston to continue uninterru ptedly inits course, whereby a uniform speed of rotation is maintained. In thedrawings I have shown a balance or y wheel 28 carried by thepistonshaft, for the purpose well known in the art.

In practice various changes in the form, proportion, and the minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is In a rotary engine, thecombination of the cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports, a rotatingpiston carrying a piston-wing having a relief-port therein, arearwardly-opening safety or equalizing valve 25 seated at the rear sideof the wing within one endv of the port and having a stem extendedthrough said port and carrying at the front side of the wing apressure-plate, a spring interposed between the pressure-plate and theadjacent side of the piston-Wing, and the revoluble fixed abutment 8arranged in a plane between the inlet and exhaust ports, substair tiallyas set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

OEFHAS V. FITE. lVitnesses:

E. C. Borra, E. M. AsBURY.

ICO

